Select Websites for Locating US Federal Government Documents

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for finding U. S. Federal legislative information. It replaced the previous legislative website Thomas website in 2016. The information available on bill status,* Congressional profiles and the legislative process comes from the Library of Congress Congressional Research Service, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publications Office and the Congressional Budget Office. The range of the website can be ascertained from some of its contents:

Federal Legislation, 93rd Congress, 1973-74 to Current Congressional Session*
Congressional Record, 1995-present daily edition
Treaty Documents, 81st-115th Congress
U. S. Code, 1994 – Current Edition (from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives.)

*Bill records are available on Congress.gov from 1973 (93rd Congress) to the present. The full texts of bills are available from 1989 (101st Congress), and the full text of laws from 1995 (104th Congress). Amendment records are available from 1981 (97th Congress), and full text of amendments is available from 1995 (104th Congress) to the present. The legislation collection is updated the morning after a session adjourns.

Fdsys (Federal Digital System)
Search or browse this database of official publications of the 3 branches of the U.S. Government, arranged in over 50 collections. Publications come from the GPO (Government Publications Office), the Library of Congress and the National Archives. All documents are available as authentic, digitally signed pdf documents. Some of the documents included are:

Govinfo.gov:
The website (in Beta mode) is designed to replace Fdsys, providing some of the same information for browsing or searching utilizing an easier search format, retaining document authentication, and access to the GPO catalog, print and ebooks. Some of its initial contents are similar:

LALL: LA Law Library
Search the library’s catalog for complete descriptions of our holdings of state and federal government publications.

Library of Congress
View the vast digital collections of the nation’s library, including the country’s earliest laws in “A Century of lawmaking for a new nation,” such as, the Annals of Congress, the Congressional Globe, the Federalist Papers and broadsides. The library is also home to the U. S. Copyright Office, the Congressional Research Service and the Law Library of Congress. The law library website includes a Guide to Law Online (the full text of National and International laws, regulations and cases) plus explanatory guides (Understanding the U. S. Legal System, for example), links to Congress.gov for the Congressional Record and a Congressional Record App,.

Metalib
A feature of the U. S. Government Publications catalog which allows you to search reports and articles from a majority of federal government agencies. While it searches only government agencies’ websites, the results may include non-government publications.

USA.gov
An official and secure website of the federal government (formerly known as Firstgov.gov), provides access to federal and state government agencies’ information and general government services (passports, grants, etc.) A search on this website yields only results from a government agency. Search requests can be made by email, smartphone app, or live chat.

U.S.Courts
This official directory of the U. S. Judiciary serves as a gateway to finding court locations, federal court records, the Federal Rules (Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Bankruptcy), Appellate and District Court information, PACER, court forms, and educational resources for all.

U. S. House of Representatives & U. S. Senate
The websites of the House of Representatives & U. S. Senate provide access to current legislative activity, Representative and Senator biographical information, historical bill information on Congress.gov and the Library of Congress, Congressional Committee membership, and educational or entertaining resources such as, “Kids in the house.”